Aishani Desai1, Jennifer H Foss-Feig2, Adam J Naples3, Marika Coffman4, Dominic A Trevisan3, James C McPartland5. 1. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, United States; Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. 2. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States. 3. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, United States. 4. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, United States; Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24060, United States. 5. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, United States. Electronic address: james.mcpartland@yale.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Atypical face processing is a prominent feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but is not universal and is subject to individual variability. This heterogeneity could be accounted for by reliable yet unidentified subgroups within the diverse population of individuals with ASD. Alexithymia, which is characterized by difficulties in emotion recognition and identification, serves as a potential grouping factor. Recent research demonstrates that emotion recognition impairments in ASD are predicted by its comorbidity with alexithymia. The current study assessed the relative influence of autistic versus alexithymic traits on neural indices of face and emotion perception. METHODS: Capitalizing upon the temporal sensitivity of event-related potentials (ERPs), it investigates the distinct contributions of alexithymic versus autistic traits at specific stages of emotional face processing in 27 typically developing adults (18 female). ERP components reflecting sequential stages of perceptual processing (P100, N170 and N250) were recorded in response to fear and neutral faces. RESULTS: The results indicated that autistic traits were associated with structural encoding of faces (N170), whereas alexithymic traits were associated with more complex emotion decoding (N250). CONCLUSIONS: These findings have important implications for deconstructing heterogeneity within ASD.
BACKGROUND: Atypical face processing is a prominent feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but is not universal and is subject to individual variability. This heterogeneity could be accounted for by reliable yet unidentified subgroups within the diverse population of individuals with ASD. Alexithymia, which is characterized by difficulties in emotion recognition and identification, serves as a potential grouping factor. Recent research demonstrates that emotion recognition impairments in ASD are predicted by its comorbidity with alexithymia. The current study assessed the relative influence of autistic versus alexithymic traits on neural indices of face and emotion perception. METHODS: Capitalizing upon the temporal sensitivity of event-related potentials (ERPs), it investigates the distinct contributions of alexithymic versus autistic traits at specific stages of emotional face processing in 27 typically developing adults (18 female). ERP components reflecting sequential stages of perceptual processing (P100, N170 and N250) were recorded in response to fear and neutral faces. RESULTS: The results indicated that autistic traits were associated with structural encoding of faces (N170), whereas alexithymic traits were associated with more complex emotion decoding (N250). CONCLUSIONS: These findings have important implications for deconstructing heterogeneity within ASD.
Authors: Thomas Insel; Bruce Cuthbert; Marjorie Garvey; Robert Heinssen; Daniel S Pine; Kevin Quinn; Charles Sanislow; Philip Wang Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2010-07 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: Christopher S McLaughlin; Hannah E Grosman; Sylvia B Guillory; Emily L Isenstein; Emma Wilkinson; Maria Del Pilar Trelles; Danielle B Halpern; Paige M Siper; Alexander Kolevzon; Joseph D Buxbaum; A Ting Wang; Jennifer H Foss-Feig Journal: Autism Date: 2021-05-09